Puppy Love
by PauCev
Summary: Another Hermione travels back in time story. But I tried to make this one different, no timeturners or potions that go wrong. But of course she falls in love with Siruis and... well, you'll have to read it
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Hey there, new year, new couple, new story. This is my first attempt at a back-in-time story. Tell me how you like it!

**Disclaimer**: Own nothing, just my computer and my will to write

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter I: Arrival**

Hermione woke up feeling dizzy and disorientated. The room was dark and she was lying on a soft bed, though she didn't remember getting to bed. Moreover, as she looked around, she realized she wasn't in her room. From the silver shining that enter through the window, she made out that she was in the Hospital Wing, but why? She didn't recall needing medical assistance. In fact, the last thing she remembered was walking in the grounds, back from Hagrid's. How had she ended up there? She sat a little straighter on the bed; her head felt funny, but apart from that she didn't feel any pain. The room was empty and quiet; Hermione deduced it must be around midnight. Why was she alone? If something had happened to her, why weren't Harry, Ron or Madam Pomfrey waiting for her to come round? A wave of anger swept past her, and then she felt fear, what if something had happened to Harry and Ron too? But they weren't in the hospital wing, so she discarded the possibility. And went back to wonder why she was alone there, and why her head felt so funny.

Suddenly, the door burst open and two young boys stormed into the room. They locked the door with a spell and hurry to get under one of the beds. Hermione heard them whisper something and then saw a familiar shadow walking pass the hospital wing. For a moment nothing happened, and then the two boys burst out laughing. They rolled out of their hiding place clutching theirs stomachs and roaring. Hermione couldn't see them properly. She was confused, she didn't seem to know them, but at the same time there was something terribly familiar about them. Eventually, their fit of laughter passed and they were able to stand up. In the rush of their escape from whatever they were running away, neither of them had noticed Hermione watching them.

"That'll show Snivelus for trying to mess with us. I might have to do three more detentions with McGonagall, but his going to walk around with that written on his face until he figures out how to take it away, 'cause as sure as hell I'm not telling him," said one of them. He was the taller of the two, had a broad back y gorgeous dark-brown hair (that was all that Hermione could see of him), yet there was something about his voice that made her heart beat faster.

"Neither am I. Too bad Filch caught us before we could get his trunk, I would have loved to plaster the Great Hall with his greasy underpants!" the other one said, sitting on one of the beds, his back to Hermione. There was something familiar about this one too, but it wasn't his voice, it was the way he moved. He reminded Hermione of… "Harry," she said out loud.

Her voice made both voice jump and look around quickly. In the semi-darkness the shorter looked exactly like Harry, but the voice didn't match. They looked at each other wearily and then walked towards her. Each of them stood on one side of her bed and they studied her closely. Hermione studied them too, and her bewilderment grew even more. One of the boys looked exactly like Harry, but he had neither the bright, green eyes nor the lightening-shaped scar. The other one reminded her terribly of Harry's god father, Sirius Black. There was only one explanation for what she was seeing, and it wasn't at all logical.

"Hi," said the boy who looked like Harry. "I don't think we've met. I'm James Potter and this is Sirius Black, who are you?"

But they never got an answer, for Hermione had fainted.

When Hermione opened her eyes again, the scene couldn't have been more different than the previous one. The room was brightly illuminated by many candles and there were five people surrounding her bed. She recognized all of them, but she had never seen them like that.

"How are you feeling dear?" the kind voice of Madam Pomfrey asked her from her right. Hermione looked at her in shock. The woman was at least twenty years younger than the last time she had seen her. She tried to answer but the words got lost in her throat when she saw that next to the nurse there was a ginger-haired Albus Dumbledore looking at her through her half-moon spectacles. The third person in the room was a much younger professor McGonagall, who despite her age still looked as stern and strict as ever. Hermione shook her head slightly to recover from the shock. Her mind was working fast, evidently she had traveled to the past, but how had that happened?

"I'm fine," she said weakly.

"You don't sound fine," said James who was standing opposite to the staff members.

"She looks fine though," commented Sirius matter-of-factly.

"Black!" McGonagall barked at him.

"Sorry professor, but it is true," he answered cheekily, giving the older woman a broad, bright grin that made Hermione's stomach clench for some reason.

"Sorry, Miss?" Dumbledore addressed Hermione

"Granger, I'm Hermione Granger" she answered looking up at him.

"Miss Granger, I'm Albus Dumbledore, but something tells me you already know that," he continued, his eyes twinkling.

"Actually, yes, I do."

"I thought so. And may I ask had you seen my beard so red before, Miss Granger?"

"No sir," Hermione answered not sure if Dumbledore knew what was going on or if he was just being weird as he sometimes did in that kind of situations.

"Ok, that settles it. From which year do you come Miss Granger?"

"2007, how did you know?" she began, but Dumbledore answered her question before she had finished it,

"It's not the first time we have a visitor from the future. You see Miss Granger, every now and then the castle feels like transporting people in time. Nobody knows how that happens, or how to revert it," he explained. Hermione was panicking. She had been sent to the past and not even the greatest wizard in the world knew how to return her to her own time. However, before she could say anything Dumbledore continued. "Don't worry, you are not stuck here forever, when the castle feels you've accomplished whatever reason it had to send you here, you'll be sent back to your age."

Hermione didn't feel in the least way reassured. She had read "Hogwarts, a History" at least twenty times and it never mentioned compulsory time-travels. She supposed it was because there was no explanation for the jolts in time; still she was planning to sue the writer of the book as soon as she returned. However, there were more important things to deal with at the moment. The three adults were looking at her with weird expressions on their faces.

"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore what am I going to do until I can go back to my time?" she asked trying to keep her voice calm.

"You can attend classes normally. I see you are head-girl, what means you are in your seventh year, in which house are you?"

"I'm a Gryffindor sir," she answered

"Brilliant, I knew it!" Sirius exclaimed happily, but shut up immediately when he saw the look on McGonagall's face.

"Ok then, it will be arranged for you to join the Gryffindor classes. Professor McGonagall here is head of your house. You can tell her which subjects you were taking so you can continue life as normally as possible." He turned to go, but suddenly he retraced his steps. "One more thing, Miss Granger, are you familiar with the rules of time-traveling?"

"Yes, I had to use a time turner in my third year and- err- my head of house told me everything I needed to know," she said. To her left, she saw James and Sirius exchanging surprised glances.

"Very well then, I trust you will respect them. If you need anything, feel free to come to my office. James is head boy; he'll tell you how to find me."

"Miss Granger, I need to go with professor Dumbledore. Why don't you come tomorrow to my office so we can discuss your schedule? The boys will take you to your room and tell you anything you need to know, as soon as Madam Pomfrey says you are good to go."

"Thank you professor," said Hermione.

"I think you can leave now if you are feeling ok," Madam Pomfrey said, while she checked her pulse.

Some time later Hermione was walking out of the Hospital Wing with James and Sirius on her side. The castle was deserted and they made their way to the Gryffindor tower in silence. Every now and then Hermione saw through the corner of her eye the boys exchanging glances. Everything felt so weird. Hermione had walked down those corridors accompanied by two boys, one of them whose last name was also Potter, so many times, but she was not with her friends and at her time. She felt tears forming in her eyes.

Sirius, who had been watching her more closely than she knew suddenly stopped.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked looking at her directly. James too saw that she was crying and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, you heard Dumbledore, you'll be back in your time in no time, ehm, well you know what I mean. And in the mean time, you get to know the coolest students Hogwarts ever saw, or will see," he said winking. Hermione gave him a watery smile. He was so much more confident than Harry, and yet he had the same warmth in his eyes.

"Come on, lets keep walking, we can talk in the common room. It'll be empty by now. We can fill you in on everything you need to know about the school and you can tell us something about you," said Sirius pushing them slightly forward.

Hermione made the rest of the way in silence, trying to figure out how she had ended up there. It had been around seven, and she had been walking back from visiting Hagrid. He had been alone because Ron and Harry were at a quidditch practice. She couldn't remember nothing out of the ordinary happening and then all she knew was that she had waken up in the hospital wing. What had happened to send her so many years into the past? Why her? Was it a coincidence or the castle had chosen to send her for a particular reason? She was so concentrated in her thoughts that she didn't realized they had arrived to the portrait of the Fat Lady, and not until Sirius shook his hand in front of he face did she reacted. Everything looked exactly the same, it was unsettling.

"Here we are. I don't know if in your time it's the same, but anyway, the password is moonshine."

"Right you are," said the Fat Lady. Hermione wondered why she wasn't upset with them for arriving so late and waking her up. She tended to be in a horrible mood whenever she, Hermione, or her friends arrived at this time.

"Thank you sweetheart," Sirius said charmingly. "Have you lost weight? You look fantastic!" he added winking. The Fat Lady winked back and moved forward to reveal the whole in the wall. Hermione rolled her eyes; there was the answer to her question. At least to one of them.

Inside the common room- which also looked as if no time had passed- James and Sirius leaded Hermione to her favorite chair in front of the fire, not that they knew it was her favorite.

"So Hermione, you said you are from the year 2007. It must be very cool to live in the future," James said from one of the chairs.

"Yeah, it is. But I can't tell you what it's like. It's against the rules."

"Told you Prongs, she's Head Girl, she's bound to abide by every rule ever written," said Sirius.

"You have no idea," Hermione said smiling. And they didn't. They didn't know how seriously she took rules and order. They weren't aware of the fact that in some years she was going to nag Harry and Ron into fallowing rules and instructions. And specially, they didn't know that she knew their biggest secret.

"Ok, you can't tell us about the future, but you can tell us something about yourself," said James messing his hair. Hermione had never seen Harry do that, on the contrary, he tended to flatten his hair, yet the way he moved his hands and his gestures when he spoke, the resemblance was remarkable. Hermione felt tears forming in her eyes again. It was as if she had suddenly realized where she was and that she was not going to see her friends for Merlin knew how long.

"Hermione, don't…" Sirius began awkwardly.

"Don't cry," said James sounding kind of bemused, "Sirius can't stand to see a woman crying, he just doesn't know how to deal with it." For some reason this remark made Hermione laugh. She had heard from Remus about Sirius' reputation with women.

"Ok, laugh at me… I'm just a poor guy, nobody likes me, I'm the laughingstock at school," he said pretending to pout. For the first time since she knew him- or had known him, she was having troubles with tenses- Hermione found that adorable.

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe Sirius," She said patting his head sympathetically.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," James warned her.

"Why not?"

"Well you see, my friend here bears a strong connection with dogs and what may seem to you as an innocent gesture could wake up the animal in him."

Hermione grinned. She had seen the animal in him, but they couldn't know that. Perhaps she had spent too much time with Ron and Harry, because she decided she would use her knowledge of the marauders to creep them up a little.

"So, are you going to tell me what Prongs and Padfoot wrote with pimples on that boy's face?" The boys looked at each other shocked.

"How do you know?"

"I heard you in the Hospital wing"

"But we didn't say anything about pimples."

"I know the spell." James and Sirius eyed her with a newfound respect.

"So guys, this has been lovely, but I'm exhausted. Could you tell me which one is my dormitory?" Sirius told her and then watched her disappear behind the door that led to the girls' rooms, but James was lost in thought.

"What is it?" Sirius asked him when he saw the expression on his best friend face.

"Do you remember me calling you Padfoot?" Sirius thought for a couple of seconds, playing in his head the conversation they had had ever since they entered the Hospital Wing.

"No, I don't. But hey, it's late and you know my memory is not at its best when it's been more than two hours since I've eaten."

James threw a pillow at him and they went to bed, the worry of how Hermione knew about Sirius' nickname on the back of their heads.


	2. Introductions

**A/N**: I'm delighted about the response the first chapter got! You are such wonderful readers! I hope this second chapter is not a disappointment. I know not much happens, but I had to introduce the character. So read, enjoy and review!!

**Disclaimer**: Own nothing, just my computer and my will to write

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter II: Introductions**

Hermione managed to find the room easily, and when she opened the door she saw that an additional four poster had been added for her. She recognized it because it was the only one that had the curtains open. She didn't have pajamas or anything similar, so she had to climb into bed with her clothes on. She was really tired, in spite of having been out for hours. She supposed the time-traveling affair had worn her. However, she did have a lot of things to thing about, so she tried to fight of sleep and focused on her situation. But before she realized, she was deeply asleep.

She woke up the following morning feeling as if she hadn't slept at all. The sound of female voices around her woke her. She knew perfectly well where she was and had suspected something like that would happen. But she had not thought of asking Dumbledore what she should say when people asked her who she was. Perhaps the easiest thing was to fake sleep and hope the other girls would let her until she had time to contact him or professor McGonagall. She closed her eyes but raised her head a little so that she could hear better what her knew roommates where saying.

"Lily, what is this bed doing here? I think there is someone inside it." 'Lily!' thought Hermione, she was sharing the room with Harry's mum!

"I don't know Olivia. Nobody said anything about adding a new bed or a new roommate."

"Should we wake her up and ask her?" another voice said. Hermione prayed someone would stop her, for she heard feet moving in her direction.

"No Beth," Lily said, "we are not thirteen! Lets go downstairs and see if we can find McGonagall, she'll tell us what's going on."

Hermione heard the door close behind them, but she didn't dare to move in case they had forgotten something and had to come back. A couple of minutes went by in silence. Slowly, Hermione peered through the curtains, the room was empty. She sat on her new bed thinking hard. She had to find McGonagall first, but if she went down to the great hall there was a chance one of the girls recognized her. She could wait for the professor to come to her, but what if she didn't? Or what if the girls returned before she had a chance to speak? Hermione needed to get out of the room, that was for sure. She had less chances of being spotted in the common room. And perhaps she would run into James or Sirius and they could help her.

Luckily enough, just as she was closing the door of the staircase, Sirius was coming down from his room.

"I see I'm not the only one who's late for breakfast!" he said happily when he saw her. His eyes were puffy and he still had marks from the pillow on his face, his hair however, was perfect. He saw her looking at it and added pointing at his head, "I have a reputation to maintain."

She laughed and for a moment she forgot she was supposed to be finding the solution to her problem.

"So, may I escort you to the Great Hall, milady?" He asked offering his arm.

"Er, no, thank you," she said remembering why she had come down, "but there is something you can help me with. I need to find Dumbledore or McGonagall before any of the other seventh year girls sees me. I don't know what I'm supposed to tell them when they ask me who I am."

"Can't you tell them the truth?"

"I don't know if I'm allowed to. And I would feel better if I spoke with one of them, please, will you help me?" she finished, giving Sirius the look of lost puppy she usually gave her father when she asked him for a favor.

"Sure, I'll go and get McGonagall. You wait here, I won't be long… she usually finds me first." And with a wink he left.

Hermione sat in one of the chairs by the window, hoping Sirius would return fast. She still hadn't had time to adjust to the idea that she had indeed traveled back in time, and that she was not going to return to her age for a while. She thought about Harry and Ron and felt like crying again. Still, she had to admit that she had been lucky enough to have been sent to the marauders time. Even though they didn't know her, she knew and liked at least two of them, and because of her best friend she felt as if knew James too. But then there was Peter. It would take a lot of self-restrain not to jump at him when she eventually saw that rat. She couldn't change the events of the future, no matter how much she wanted to. Perhaps that was why she had been sent and not Harry or Ron. Everybody knew she was the most responsible and reliable of the three.

At that moment the portrait hole opened again and Sirius entered, followed by both Dumbledore and McGonagall. Hermione smiled at him in thanks and he bowed his head and disappeared out of the room again shouting something about breakfast being gone.

"Good morning Miss Granger, Sirius Black told us you needed to see us," said Dumbledore taking a sit in front of Hermione.

"Yes, professor. The thing is, yesterday I didn't ask you what I was supposed to say when people ask me who I am."

"Oh yes, we didn't discuss that particular subject. What do you think Miss Granger?" His tone wasn't ironic, nor was he testing her. He truly wanted to know her opinion.

"Well, when I had to use the time turner, I was supposed to keep it a secret. But that was different because nobody was going to ask me who I was or why I had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Yet, I don't think it would be wise for everyone to know where I come from."

"I agree with you Miss Granger. We'll tell the rest of the students that you transfer from a boarding school. You can keep you name and identity, but I would suggest you take out that Head Girl badge."

"Yeah, right professor. Thanks."

"And what about Black and Potter? Do you think they'll be able to keep the secret, Albus?" asked McGonagall looking doubtful.

"I wouldn't worry about them Minerva, they are perfectly capable of keeping a secret." He winked at Hermione making her wonder how much did he really know about the marauders. He stood up to leave, but Hermione stopped him.

"Professor, one more thing. I don't have any clothes or books or anything."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Now, go with professor McGonagall so you can discuss your class schedule and then you can go down to breakfast. You must be starving."

* * *

Half an hour later Hermione entered the Great Hall. It felt so strange being there and not recognizing any of the faces she had seen for the last seven years. She made her way to the Gryffindor table. It was nearly empty. Near the end, there were four boys sitting. Only one of them was actually eating. Two of the other ones were watching him amused and the third one was reading the paper. Hermione made her way towards them. James saw her coming and called her name.

"Hermione, over here!" Sirius looked up with his mouth so full of scrambled eggs it looked as if it was about to burst.

"That's really classy Padfoot," Remus Lupin commented, putting his paper down and looking around. Hermione almost stopped from shock when she saw Remus. He looked nothing like the present one. He was young and healthy- the full moon must not be near- and most of all, unpreoccupied. Peter Pettigrew had also looked up. He was fat and had small, watery eyes. The only time Hermione had seen him, he had been scared, trembling and begging for his life. But now he too looked relaxed, even happy. Hermione had a sudden desire to jump to his throat and strangle him. Something she had only felt towards Malfoy, every time he insulted Ron or his family. But this little bastard disserved it more than him. But she managed to smile and sat down next to James and Lupin, in front of Sirius and Peter.

"Boys, this is Hermione, she's from-" James began, but Hermione cut him before he could finish the sentence.

"I'm from a boarding school. I arrived last night," she said giving James a meaningful look. He looked confused for a fraction of a second and the caught on with her.

"We met her last night, Dumbledore decided she should be in Gryffindor so we showed her the way to the common room. Anyway, this is Remus and that is Peter."

"Nice to meet you," Hermione said as naturally as she could.

"From which school do you come?" Remus asked politely. It was really lucky that Hermione had read almost everything about everything for she was able to make up a plausible story.

"I had always wanted to come to Hogwarts, but my parents thought it was better to send me there. Then I became of age and I was able to apply for the exchange program, so, here I am," she finished smiling.

"Well, we are happy to have you here," Sirius said, making his three friends burst out laughing. "What?" he asked confused.

"You have a bit of egg hanging from your moth," Hermione said grinning. In that same situation, Ron would have turned scarlet and refused to leave his room for a week, Sirius instead found it very amusing. He smiled even wider and checking his reflection on a spoon declared that he thought it added something special to his face. So he continued to eat, unbothered by the piece of egg.

"Hermione, you should get something to eat before Sirius finishes with everything," Remus suggested open back his newspaper.

Until she had the first mouthful, Hermione hadn't realized how hungry she was. The food was as good as ever. In fact, she was so concentrated on eating that she didn't realize that someone else had joined them at the table. A pretty read-head with bright, green eyes had seated next to Sirius. James, who had been talking to Peter about the Quidditch season, suddenly shut up. This was Hermione's cue to look up.

"Hi," said the new girl, "I'm Lily Evans. You must be Hermione Granger." Hermione nodded and took the hand Lily was offering her. "Professor McGonagall told me that you come from a boarding school and that you'll be here for the whole term. I'm also in seven year and I'm one of your roommates. I just wanted to tell you that if there is anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask," she smiled warmly. Hermione smiled back. It was incredible; she could see Harry behind Lily's eyes.

"Thank you!" said Hermione honestly. She had been hoping Lily would contact her so they could be friends. If she couldn't have Harry, being friend with his parents was the next best thing. And Lily looked like a sweet girl.

"I have to go now, but I'll see you later, ok?" Lily said standing up.

"Going so soon?" asked James in a strange voice.

"Yes Potter, unlike others, I have a lot of important things to do," Lily replied coldly and she left without another word. Hermione was stunned to see her talking like that to James. She remembered Harry mentioning something about his parents not getting along greatly when they were young, but everybody talked about Lily and James as a couple who was madly in love with each other. But then again, she herself had used that same tone with Ron in more than one occasion, and that didn't mean that she didn't… 'Stop it,' she ordered herself, 'you mustn't think about that. There is nothing you can do about it now!'

She looked at the boys to distract herself from her own feelings. James was gloomy so she decided to try to cheer him up; perhaps it would have some kind of rebound effect on her.

"What's wrong James?" she asked sweetly, patting his hand. It was come naturally to her to do it, because she had done the same thing with Harry a million times, but the others looked at her as if she was crazy. She quickly removed her hand and mumbled, "Sorry."

"Hermione, you are a girl right? Maybe you can help me," James said suddenly looking up at her.

"How?" she asked suspiciously.

"The thing is Hermione," Sirius began ceremoniously, "our friend here has a bit of a crush-"

"You mean his besotted," Remus corrected him.

"Right, actually he is madly in love with our adorable Head Girl. But she has a bit of a problem with him."

"You mean she hates him with all her heart," Remus interrupted again.

"Right, so you see our little friend's dilemma?"

"I see," Hermione answered amused, "but I wouldn't worry if I were him."

"Why not?" James asked hopefully.

"Well, you know what they say. The opposite of love is not hatred, is indifference. And it's pretty clear to me that she is not not concerned by you. On the contrary, she's making a great effort to heat you." At these words, James' face lit up.

"So you are saying I should keep trying and insisting?" He asked.

"Yes, but maybe you should find out what she doesn't like about you and change it," Hermione suggested.

"That's easy, everybody knows what Lily doesn't like about James," Remus said over his edition of the Daily Prophet. "She says so every time she sees him. Lily thinks James is conceited, smug, arrogant, big-headed, pompous and I'm forgetting something…"

"A jerk," Sirius supplied grinning. James looked subdued again.

"Well then, there you have it. There's a lot to work on. But don't worry; I'm pretty sure she doesn't really hates you. She just thinks of you as an immature baby, that's all."

"Cheez Hermione thanks! You really know how to make a bloke feel better!" James said moodily

"I'm just saying it so you know where you need to start your transformation. Anyway, what are you guys up to today?"

"James and I have quidditch practice, that is, if I can't get him out of this bench now. Hey, do you play Hermione?" he asked as if illuminated by a sudden inspiration.

"No, I've only been on a broom three times in my life and it was more than enough. I don't like flying. Not on broomsticks, not on hippogriffs, not on thestrals."

"What's a thestral?" Peter asked, but everybody ignored him.

"You've flown a hippogriff?" Remus asked sounding deeply surprised and awed. Hermione nodded but didn't elaborate. The memory was not something she wanted to relive at this particular time.

"Wow, you are full of surprises," Sirius said, eying her up and down. Hermione had known Sirius for a couple of years; she had shared his house, sat at the table with him and talked about a million things. She was really used to his presence, but that simple gesture of checking her as if they were equals made her blush. Hermione was not used to guys checking her out. Not because she was ugly, quite the opposite, but because she didn't pay attention to those things. The only boys she really paid attention to were Harry and Ron, and they didn't _check her out_, as far as she knew.

"Ok, so you won't be joining us then," Sirius said, a bit disappointed.

"No thanks, I'll have to pass this time. Maybe I'll go and find Lily so she can introduce me to the other girls," she said getting up from the table. She left the Great Hall to a chorus of "see you later," from the boys.

As she made her way to the Gryffindor Common Room, she met a grease haired, big nosed, ugly looking boy who was wearing a turtle neck sweater. She recognized him immediately as her would-be Potions teacher and gave him an ironic grin. Maybe while she was here she could get even with Snape for everything he was going to me her and her friends suffer in the future.

* * *

When she entered through the whole in the wall, nothing seemed different to the scene she had left the previous day when she had set off to Hagrid's. Students everywhere were chatting, reading or doing homework. Quite a few were breaking the rules, and she had to stop herself from confiscating a screaming yo-yo. She spotted Lily sitting with her two friends, they were giggling about something. Hermione made her way towards them, hoping Lily would see her and introduce her, she had never been good at first impressions with her peers.

"Hi Hermione!" said Lily waving at her. "Come here so I can introduce you to the girls." Hermione smiled in relief and stood next to the read-head.

"Girls, this is Hermione, the girl who's sleeping in our room this morning. McGonagall told me she's from a boarding school abroad. Hermione, these are Olivia and Elizabeth." Hermione smiled timidly to the girls, who greeted her cheerfully. They asked her to sit next to them and immediately started to ask her questions about herself. As she told them the same story she had made up for the boys, she analyzed the girls she was with. She felt at once that she and Lily were kindred spirits and that they were going to get along greatly. Elizabeth, or Beth as her friends called her, was nice and good-natured but a bit dumb, for lack of a better word. It reminded Hermione of Neville, so she liked her for that. Olivia, on the other hand was smart and sharp. Hermione's first instinct was to be careful around her. There was something about the girl that made her shifty.

"But I don't get it, if you are muggle born, how did your parents know where to send you and how did you know about Hogwarts?" asked Olivia, skepticism written all over her face.

"Because the moment I found out I was a witch, I read everything I could about schools and magic." This part at least was true. "And I have a great aunt who is also a witch. She went to the same school I did, so she recommended it to my parents. As she was the only reference they had, they choose that one," Hermione explained simply. Still, the look on Olivia's face remained for a while.

After she had finished her tale, the subject moved- guided by Lily- to subjects. It turned out that she and Hermione were taking almost the same subject. This was a good thing, because Hermione was not going to feel so alone in class.

"You know who is also taking those subjects, don't you?" Beth said excitedly.

"Who?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Potter, Black and Remus Lupin," Lily answered in a bored voice. "Don't mind Beth, or half the girls at this school, for reasons best known to themselves they are all obsessed with them!"

"Come on Lils! At least you have to admit they are good looking, even if you won't say you care for them," Beth insisted. Hermione had a feeling they had had this conversation many times in the past.

"And you always said you liked Lupin," added Olivia.

"Yeah well, Lupin is a sweet-heart, plus his smart and funny. And it would be pointless to deny that Black _is_ good looking. But that is not a reason to idolize someone! And there is absolutely nothing good about James Potter!" The girls rolled their eyes, and Hermione thought she knew what they were thinking; it couldn't be more obvious that Lily Evans already had feelings for James.

"Lily told us you were having breakfast with them today," Bath addressed Hermione. "What do _you_ think of them?"

"Oh, I liked them. All but Peter. There is something wrong about that kid."

"Pettigrew? He's harmless. He just trots behind the other three trying to see if he can learn something," Lily said matter-of-factly. Hermione didn't push the subject. Although she was dying to tell her that he was going to be her doom, she mustn't say anything that could alter the events of the future.

"Did you have a boyfriend at you other school Hermione?" it appeared that Beth's topic of choice was boys.

"I was sort of seeing a guy," Hermione answered vaguely. She didn't want think about it. But the girls were not going to drop the subject and they started to bombard her with questions about this boy.

"There's nothing to say really. We'd been friends ever since out first year and this year he plucked up the courage to ask me out. We went on a couple of dates and then I left, so basically that's the end of it." The only portion of this that was true was the first part of the story. She and Ron had been friends ever since they had saved her from the troll on her first year, and it had taken him six years to ask her out, but she had disappeared into the past before they could go on their first date.

"Well, don't worry. There are plenty of good boys to choose from here," said Beth sweetly. Hermione, who had no intention of getting attached to any boy nodded uncommittedly.

She spent the rest of the morning chatting with the girls, and by the time they got to a very late lunch, she felt she had known them forever. They entered the Great Hall together, and more than a couple of heads, mainly boys' heads, turned to look at the pass. Hermione was not surprised. She had seen this reaction before and the girls she was with were beautiful. Olivia was tall and slim, she had long shining black hair and her eyes, also black, had an exotic shape. Beth was the shortest of the three, she was blond, and her hair fell in elegant curls around her face; with her light-blue eyes she looked like a doll. Lily was simply stunning. Her hair was a vivid shade of red and it cascaded down her back. Her bright green eyes were hidden behind her bushy eyelashes and her tiny nose was spattered with freckles. No wonder James had picked her from the crowd. And he was not the only one. As they walked along the hall, she heard many boys call after the three of them, and to her surprise, a couple of them asked: "Hey, who's your friend?"

Unfortunately for Lily, the only seats available were next to the marauders. James and Sirius were sitting next to each other, covered in mud and shoveling down large quantities of food, as if they hadn't eaten in weeks. In front of them were Peter and Remus. Lily chose a seat next to the latter, and Olivia settled down next to her. Beth leaded Hermione to the other side of the table, and she sat next to Sirius. He looked up from his plate, smiled at Hermione through a mouth full of pie and continued to eat. Hermione smiled to herself and helped herself to some food. She missed her friends already, but she could tell that these people was going to keep her happy and occupied until it was time to return home.


	3. I wasn't a date!

**A/N**: Hey there! This chapter took longer than usual because I'm in the middle of finals! Still, I passed Literature and Law, so here you have an update!!! You know what to do now: read, enjoy and review!!!! THNX!!!

**Disclaimer**: Own nothing, just my computer and my will to write

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter III: It wasn't a date**

It was mid-afternoon and Hermione was alone, in the library. After lunch, the boys had gone back outside to continue their quidditch session and the girls had return to the Common Room to do some homework. She of course didn't have any assignments to hand in, but she did have a lot of things to think about. According to what Dumbledore had said, she had a mission, but she didn't know what it was she had to do. And it was imperative that she figured it out in order to get back to her time and her people.

As she had always done when in doubt, she had run to the library and taken as many books on time-traveling as she could carry. She had no idea were to begin, so she figured the best thing to do was to inform herself about the subject. Still, after an hour of reading she was finding it hard to concentrate. Her mind kept drifting to other places, far from where she was supposed to be; or rather to the place where she _was_ supposed to be. No matter how hard she tried to focus on the pages in front of her, she couldn't stay tuned for more than three minutes. However, this didn't mean that she was paying attention to was going on around her. In fact, she didn't even notice when someone sat in front of her, with no books or bag, or anything at all.

Suddenly, a familiar whisper startled her, "You have an amazing power of concentration." She looked up and saw Sirius sitting in front of her, grinning.

"Huh?" she asked puzzled.

"I've been here for five minutes staring at you and you didn't realized I was here until I spoke. You surely can read in any place, under any circumstances," he explained taking a look at the book she had been trying to read.

"In general, that's true. But today I couldn't concentrate at all. My mind didn't seam able to stop wondering," she replied exasperatedly.

"And what were you thinking about, if I may ask?"

"About… home," she said with a sight.

"Oh."

"Yeah, I know it's silly. I mean, I have to figure out why I was brought here and all I can think about is what I have left behind."

"It's not silly, it's completely understandable. In fact, I can't believe how strong you are. I mean, if I had woken up to realize I had traveled all those years in the past I would never have reacted as calmly as you did. You are being very rational about this whole affair." Hermione smiled, she had always been very rational about everything. Plus, so many things had happened to her and her friends ever since she had first started at Hogwarts that she had learnt to accept whatever came and deal with it in the most logical way she could find.

She was about to reply when the librarian came and pushed them out of the library for talking to loud and disrupting the peace an quiet of her sanctuary of books- her own words.

Hermione and Sirius started to walk back to the common room together. Hermione was telling the boy about Harry's theory that Madam Pience was in love with Filch when they passed the statute of the humpbacked, one-eyed witch and Sirius stopped suddenly.

"I have an idea, I know what we can do to take your minds off things for a while. But you have to promise to keep it a secret and don't go all _prefectly_ on me," he said, his face lighting with anticipation and excitement.

"How many school rules would we be breaking?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Around twenty," he answered freshly. "But we are not going to do anything dangerous or seriously wrong, com on, do I have your word?"

It was a mark of how much Hermione had cared for Sirius during the brief period they had known each other, that she only hesitated for a few seconds before nodding. She knew she could trust him. Besides, she probably had already broken every single school rule with Harry and Ron. Plus she could do with something to distract her from her problems. She had come to terms with the fact that she was not going to be able to think logically for a while, until she got used to the idea that she was stuck in the past. It would do her good to take her mind of things for a couple of hours.

"Great! We are going to need a couple of things though," he said taking out his wand "_Accio _map, _Accio_ invisibility cloak." They waited in silence for a couple of seconds, and then the Marauders' map and an invisibility cloak.

"James won't mind that you take his cloak without asking?" said Hermione getting under the cloak as she had done so many times with her best friends.

"How do you know it's James'?" Sirius asked her as he folded the map into his pocket.

Hermione turned scarlet. How had she been so careless? She had forgotten she was not supposed to know about the cloak or the map. She had to come up with a believable answer, and fast.

"Yesterday, in the Hospital wing he took it, so I assumed it was his," she lied.

"Were we wearing it yesterday?" he said confused.

"Yeah, how else would I know about it? What am I, a psychic?"

"No, but you do come from the future." He pointed out as he cast the spell to open the secret passage that lead to the village. "Have you ever been to Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah. In fact, I've used this passage a couple of times."

Sirius looked at her impressed. "I thought you didn't break rules!"

"There's a lot you don't know about me!" she said winking before disappearing inside the tunnel. Was she flirting with him?

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes. The tunnel was thin, so they had to walk in line. Hermione was in the front, so she couldn't see Sirius's face.

"Hey, there is something I've been wanting to ask you. And now that I know you are a rule-breaker, you have no choice but to answer" he said.

"What is it?"

"Do you know us, I mean, in the future? I know we must be really old, like forty or something, but maybe you know our children. You are a Gryffindor and I'm sure my sons are going to be in my house too…So maybe you know them."

A lump formed in Hermione's throat. Apart from the fact that she couldn't answer Sirius honestly because anything she said would give him knowledge to affect the future, his question had brought back everything that had happened to him. In the shock of finding her trapped in such a bizarre situation she hadn't absorbed the fullness of being walking and talking with people she knew were dead. One of them, she had seen die, and now was walking behind her, clueless about his future. And the worst part was that there was nothing she could about it. Tears started to run down her face, and a sob escaped her lips.

Sirius put his hands on her shoulders and made her stop walking. He turned her round.

"What's wrong? Are you thinking about your friends again?" he asked whipping her tears.

"Yeah, that's it," she said, looking away.

"Well, I know it's not the same. But if you need a friend, I'm here for you, all of us are," he said a little uncomfortable.

"Thanks." She gave him a watery smile. At least he didn't push the subject of whether she knew them or not. They continue walking in silence, but he kept close to her, making her feel protected.

When they arrived to the end of the tunnel Hermione made a gesture to get under the cloak but Sirius stopped her.

"There's no need, I'm in first-name basis with the owners," he said opening the door. The owners of Honeydukes seemed to adore Sirius. Hermione, who knew about his addiction to sugar, figured out he must be one of his best customers. They walked out of the shop with their hands full of sweets, gifts from its owners.

"They can only give me free stuff when it's not a Hogsmeade weekend, otherwise the other would want some too," he explained starting on a lollipop. Hermione laughed, the image of Sirius sucking a lollipop was hilarious.

"Were do you want to go?"

"How about the Three Broomsticks?"

The pub was empty, so Madam Rosmerta greeted them enthusiastically. Hermione wondered why Sirius didn't mind being seen when he was not supposed to be out of school. But then she remembered who the Fat Lady had treated him, she figured his charms had gotten him out of trouble in more than one occasion. There was no point in denying it, he was charming. He was handsome, funny and kind. Hermione could tell he hadn't yet acquired the wisdom he would show later, but he was still very smart.

"She must be a very special girl for you to show her your secret," Madam Rosmerta said when she brought their drinks.

"She is," Sirius answered making Hermione blush.

"So, I gather you bring a lot of girls here on dates," Hermione teased him.

"Why does everyone think I'm a playboy? I'm an extremely romantic man who is in love with love. The thing is that love can take many forms, sometimes it is a blonde witch, sometimes a brunette," he explained simply. If someone else had said such a thing, Hermione would have thought he was cocky and chauvinist. But she knew Sirius didn't really think so.

"And what about you 'Mione- is it ok if I call you that? I tend to call people by their nicknames. I usually invent them, but I don't know you well enough to give you one yet."

"Sure, my friends call me that. What about me?"

"Do you have a boyfriend or a friend, who has some benefits?" Hermione was about to give Sirius the same answer she had given to the girls, but for some reason something inside her made her shake her head.

"How's that? A beautiful girl like you alone? What's with men in the future?" The young Sirius was one of the few people who had the ability to make her blush with a simple question. What was wrong with her? She knew Sirius, and this had never happened.

"Anyway, I don't know what I'm complaining about, that's actually good news form me." Hermione was only half listening, so she didn't really heard what he had said, thus she didn't react.

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking, and laughing. Sirius told her a lot of tales about his adventures with his friends. He had no way of knowing that Hermione had already heard more than half of them, but this time, he didn't omit some parts the adults Sirius or Remus hadn't consider wise to tell kids. Hermione found herself snorting with laughter as if it was the first time she heard about them. How great it felt to laugh again, it had been a while since she had had so much fun.

Sirius too was glad she was having a good time. There was something special about this girl, but he couldn't tell what it was. He had been in that situation a hundred times, usually with girls who had been thrilled to go out with him and hear his stories, but not because they cared about them; it was only because they wanted to be the one he was telling them to. Hermione wasn't like that. He somehow knew that she wanted to listen to him. It was as though she really cared about him, but not because he was attracted to him or something like that. And for that Sirius wanted to be happy. She was away from everyone she knew (or at least he thought so), and he was going to make sure she didn't miss anything. He was going to do everything in his power to keep her in high spirits.

The afternoon went by as if someone had put a speeding charm on time, and before they realized, it was sunset.

"We should get going, we don't want to get caught," Hermione said, looking out of the window.

"Don't worry, we won't. The guys have probably figured out were I am, seeing that the cloak and the map are gone, so they'll invent a story if someone ask for me."

"Map, what map?" she had already made that mistake, and she was not a person who made the same mistake twice.

"Can't tell you about it. It's a secret."

"I thought you trusted me," she insisted, pretending to be offended. It was best if he told her as much about him as possible, because it reduced the chances of letting slip something she wasn't meant to know.

"I do, but this has to do with a pact made between friends, and that's something I can't break."

"Ok, Padfoot, whatever you say!"

They made their way back talking pleasantly. They felt at ease with each other's company. Moreover, something weird was happening to Hermione. She didn't feel sad about knowing Sirius and most of his friends were doomed. On the contrary, she felt she had to enjoy every moment she had with them, and to make the most of it. It was a peculiar feeling, like some inspiration from outside her. And there was something else. Some part of her discovered that spending time with them was key to understand why she had been sent there and to return home.

They were once again at the mouth of the tunnel, but before Sirius could open they hunch of the statue Hermione spoke.

"Thank you," she said, kissing him on the cheek.

"What for?" he asked confused.

"For today, I really needed it and you were there for me. You realized I was upset and wasted your Saturday on cheering me up!"

"Hey, I didn't wasted it. I had a great time. And we can repeat it anytime you want." They looked at each other for a few seconds, smiling. Then Sirius turned around and Hermione saw him that a piece of parchment out of his pocket. He knew that piece of paper by heart, the only difference was that it wasn't as old and ragged as the one Harry had. She heard him mutter the incantation to activate it and then he indicated that the cost was clear, so they climbed out to the statue. There was no need for the cloak this time, so they walked back as if they had spent the whole day in the library.

When they arrived at the common room, it was only half full as many students were having dinner; the marauders however where there. They saw the couple enter through the hole on the wall and nudged each other, winking at Sirius in silence.

"Hey guys," he greeted him, unconcerned by their behavior. "What are you up to? Had dinner already?"

"No," James answered, clearly containing his laughter. "We were waiting for you, assuming you haven't eaten already, that is." His words were heavy with double-meaning. Hermione sighted. Boys were boys, no matter what year you were in.

"Nop, we didn't. Let's go down. Wanna join us 'Mione?" Once again, he ignored the not-so-veiled suggestions his best friend was making.

"No, I'm not really hungry. I think I'll go to bed." This, of course was the wrong thing to say. Comments were as varied as: 'he left you exhausted' and 'don't worry, we'll send him to you after we've fed him'. Sirius cursed Peter to make the three of them shut up, and it had the desired effect. Hermione bid them good night and went upstairs to her room leaving the boys alone.

"So, tell us about it Padfoot," James said leading the way to the great hall.

"There's nothing to tell," Sirius answered simply.

"It must have been very special if _you_ don't want to share," Remus commented.

"Come on! We always say each other everything when it comes to dates! You can't start being reserved now!" James protested.

"Seriously. There's nothing to tell because it wasn't a date. I met her in the library, she was really upset because she missed her friends so I took her to Hogsmeade to cheer her up. That's all. All we did was talk. She's really nice."

"I know she is. But, come on! You want us to believe that _you_, Sirius Black went with a beautiful girl to Hogsmeade and nothing happened? You can tell that tale to whoever it is you are dating this week, but you can't pull that on us," James said.

"Whatever, that's the truth. If you don't believe me, go and ask her." The two friends looked at each other straight in the eye.

"I think you are losing your touch then. Either that or you are not interested in her," said James sitting down on one of the benches.

"I just took her as a friend, that's all," said Sirius sitting opposite to him.

"If you don't like her, do you mind if I ask her out. I don't mean now, but once she's adjusted to living here." Remus asked.

For some reason Sirius felt a pang on his stomach at this. He didn't want Remus to ask her out, but why?

"I thought you liked Elizabeth," Sirius said, avoiding the question.

"I do, but there's nothing wrong with having other options. You of all people should know that!"

"Yeah, but I don't think you should ask Hermione out if you have feelings for someone else. I don't want her to get hurt."

"If you like her, you just have to say so. You know I wouldn't go for a girl one of you likes."

"It's not that!" Sirius protested. "It's just that she's having a very difficult time now and I don't want anything to upset her further."

"Whatever Padfoot, don't worry. I won't do anything," Remus said starting on his food. Sirius started to eat too, but he wasn't really hungry. He was thinking about Hermione and about what Remus had said. Why did the idea of his friend dating Hermione bother him? Was it really because he didn't want Hermione to get hurt? Or was it because he was starting to have feelings for her?


	4. Breaking the Ice

**A/N**: I'm back, missed me? Ok, this chapter is a little longer than the previous ones. I can't promise that all of them are going to be this long but I'll do my best! Love you! And I'll love you even more if you review! ;o)

**Disclaimer**: Own nothing, just my computer and my will to write

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter IV: Breaking the Ice**

It was very early on Monday morning, and Hermione was tossing and turning in bed unable to sleep. She was as nervous as she had been on her first day at Hogwarts. From what Lily had told her, they were studying more or less the same topics she had been seeing at her own time, so she didn't think she was going to have much trouble in that area. The problem was that she was going to face a lot of new people: both classmates and teacher. She was glad she had already talked to Lily and her friends, at least there was going to be a friendly face among the crowd. But there were going to be other not-so-kind faces, like Lucius Malfoy and Snape. They of course didn't know who she was. Still, she didn't think it would take them long to hate her for being muggle born and probably for being friends with the marauders. Or just for being in Gryffindor. In any case, Hermione wasn't looking forward to facing them.

Around six she gave up any hope of getting some sleep and decided to go downstairs. It was too early to go to have breakfast, but at least she was going to be able to read something to pass the time. However, she arrived at the common room only to realize that she didn't have any books. She hadn't been able to take one from the library when she had been there with Sirius and McGonagall hadn't given anything to her yet. She sat at one of the tables that was full of pieces of parchment and a couple of broken quills. Hermione fixed one of them at started to doodle on a piece of paper, not really thinking about what she was writing. She was exhausted, and she didn't want to think or analyze anything about her situation, her life or her future. She just wanted to… she didn't really know what she wanted. She missed her friends terribly, she was confused and a little scared, but at the same time, she was starting to feel comfortable around the people she was with now. The previous day, Sunday, she had spent a lot of time with Lily and the rest of the girls. They had showed her the school, told her everything she needed to know about the teachers and pointed out the boys she couldn't go out with either because they were ex-boyfriends or because one of them liked them (Beth had been in charge of this part of the conversation).

"And what about James, Sirius and Remus? You didn't say anything about them," Hermione had asked Beth after she had finished inventorying all the boys at Hogwarts.

"Interested in one of them?" Olivia asked her in an incisive tone. "I saw you talking to Black yesterday."

"No, I was just asking because you told me everyone fancy them and Beth didn't say anything about them," Hermione answered in the same cold voice.

"Don't mind Olivia, she's having a bad day. There isn't much to say about the Marauders. They are a special group. They date a lot of girls, but I would advice you not to take any of them seriously, they are not "boyfriend material". Not because they are bad or anything, it's just that they have, let's say, issues. James is crazy about Lily, everybody knows that. He occasionally goes on dates with girls, but just to have fun. He never kisses them, so all the girls want to be the lucky one who can compete with Lily Evans and win over James' heart," Beth said, over-dramatically. Hermione laughed. Beth was a very nice person, really sweet, but she was too girlish for her own good.

"If it is up to me, they can have him. I don't want to have anything to do with him!" Lily said.

"Yeah, but it's not up to you. Anyway, we all know you two are going to end up together, and no, we are not going to have this conversation again, so let's move forward to the next one. Remus, he's a sweet-heart but for some reason he refuses to get attached to any girl. I think he's sick or something because every now and then he looks ill, I suppose he has some sort of decease and that is why he doesn't want to have a serious relationship. It's a pity really; he would make a great partner. He's the nicest one of them, were thoughtful and trustworthy."

"Beth fancies him," Olivia said. She had changed her tone, Hermione could tell she was trying to be friendly, but there was still something about her that made her feel unnerved. Hermione thought Beth was going to deny it, as Lily had done, but she was surprised to see her blush.

"Yeah, I do. But I've given up hopes with him. You could say we are friends now, he is the one I talk to the most, anyway. But there is still one more –we all know Peter doesn't count- Sirius. He is the most complicated case. He is funny, extremely good-looking, smart and thus an inexorable Casanova. He's never cheated on a girlfriend, cause he's never been involved with someone long enough to call it a relationship. Still, we believe he is the type of guy who never settles down but one day find a woman who turns them head over heels and they never even looked at another one. And of course, almost every girl at school wishes to be that woman."

Hermione was thinking about this conversation again, because it had brought something home. During the holidays before her fifth year she had spent a lot of time with Sirius. She liked chatting with him, not only because he was intelligent but also because, due to everything that had happened to him, he had very interesting opinions and points of view about a lot of topics. She remembered that one afternoon, after she had had one of her usual fights with Ron, she was having a cup of tea in the kitchen when Sirius entered. One look at her face told him what was going on, or perhaps he had heard the shouts. In any case, he sat in front of her and told her how much they reminded him about Lily and James.

"Harry's parents? What do Ron and I have in common with them? They were a couple, they were in love. Ron and I are just friends, and some times not even that!" Hermione had protested.

"You have no idea how much Lily and James used to fight before they started dating, or rather, how much Lily fought with him while he was trying to get her to like him. And besides, you might be able to hide it from Harry and Ron, but we both know you like him as more than a friend. And he does too, only he hasn't seen it yet." Hermione had blushed at this remark. Of course it was true, she had had feelings for Ron for over a year, but the only person that knew about them was Ginny.

"Am I that obvious?" she asked worriedly.

"For the trained eye, yes. I've had my share of women and I've learned to recognize gazes and looks. And I've seen the way you look at Ron; it is the same way Lily used to look at James when they started dating," there was something sad about his tone. Hermione remembered noticing it, but at the time she thought that he missed his friends. But with the information Beth had given her she thought that perhaps he hadn't had the time to find that woman who was to be the person that changed his attitude.

She was thinking about this when she heard a noise behind her. Someone had entered the common room. Hermione turn around wondering who else was an early bird and was only half surprised to see Remus. She smiled at him, and he smiled back and went to sit with her.

"Morning!" he said brightly. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to come here to read, but then I realized that I don't have any books because my parents haven't sent them yet."

"You must be really bored! Why don't we go to have breakfast? It's great at this time of the morning. There's hardly anyone down there, so it's very peaceful."

"Sure. Do you always get up so early?" she asked him as they made their way to the Great Hall.

"I never sleep until mid-day like the boys do, but I don't wake up at six thirty everyday. It's just that sometimes I feel like enjoying the entire day," he answered. He didn't need to say anything else. Hermione knew he was referring to the days prior to the full moon. He probably had to spend some time in the Hospital Wing after his transformations. She knew that the wolfsbane potion hadn't been invented yet and in spite of his friends being animagus, it must still be really hard for him to change into a wolf once a month.

"What about you? Do you usually wake up so early?"

"In my other school I tried to get an early breakfast so I could read the paper before my friends joined me."

"That's something we have in common then," he said smiling at her. Little did he know that they had a lot in common, that Hermione actually admired him a lot. "So, how do you like the school so far?"

"I like it. It's very similar to my old one, so I feel comfortable. And everybody has been very nice to me. Still, I'm a little nervous about the classes, and stuff."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll do fine. Sirius told me you know a couple of very advanced spells. And if there is something you need help with, you can always ask us. Lily is one of the best students, and I'm sure she'll be more than glad to help you, and so are we."

"Thanks! But it's not the lessons I'm worried about, it's the teachers and the students." Hermione had always felt comfortable confiding on Remus, even when he was her teacher. It wasn't weird for her to be telling him about her fears, and he didn't seem to mind at all.

"Don't worry, you'll do great. I can tell you are the kind of students teachers like: responsible, respectful and studious." Hermione was glad to hear that. Remus had always been one of her favorite teachers and he was very dear to her.

They started talking about subjects when they heard a commotion outside the great hall. Hermione looked up immediately and was half out of her bench when Remus started laughing.

"What's going on?" she asked confused.

"Don't worry, it happens almost daily, you'll get used to it. Don't you recognize the voices? It's James and Sirius, the third one is Severus Snape. I'd advice you to stay away from him by the away. Anyway, he is probably retaliating for the prank James and Sirius played on him the other day. I heard he was too ashamed to leave his room during the weekend, but he has to attend classes, so he doesn't have any choice. He probably waited in the entrance hall until he saw them and attacked, or tried to by the sound of Sirius' and James' laughter. That's another good reason to come to breakfast early, to avoid getting in the middle of it."

If it had been any other person, Hermione would have protested against the situation. She probably would have gone outside and lectured the boys for their behavior, but after what had happened the previous year, she hated Snape so much she wanted to see him suffer. Deep down she knew it was wrong, but she wasn't going to do anything to stop it. In fact, she was going to help them, if she could.

A couple of seconds later, Sirius and James entered the Great Hall cackling madly. They had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard and they could barely walk. In fact, James had to grab the table to prevent himself from rolling in the floor. When the fit had passed, they made their way towards Hermione and Remus, still chortling.

"You missed a great show Moony!" James said.

"What happened this time?" he asked amused

"The idiot tried to curse us with a new spell, you know, one of those inventions of his, but it backfired and he ended up with bright-blue, feathery wings coming from his chest. We didn't even have to raise our wands, he did the entire job for us. And as an added bonus, McGonagall saw the whole him and gave him a week's worth of detentions with her!"

Remus and Hermione laughed loudly, but Sirius had stopped smiling and was looking from one to the other.

"Did you come together for breakfast?" he asked in what he clearly thought was a matter-of-factly tone, but that sounded forced and awkward.

"Yeah, we meat in the common room," Hermione said.

Before Sirius could say anything else Remus added "Hermione couldn't sleep so she went down early. And I saw her there and suggested she should have something to eat to be prepared for her first day." Hermione looked at him surprised. Why was he lying at Sirius? There was nothing wrong with them having breakfast together, why did he need to give any kind of explanation?

"Oh," said Sirius, a little more relaxed, and he helped himself to a piece of toast and buttered it.

"What was that about?" Hermione mouthed to Remus while Sirius wasn't looking.

"I'll explain later," he mouthed back and then turned to James and asked him something about their transfiguration assignment.

Hermione was left to wonder what was going on. But she didn't have much time to think because only a moment later the girls arrived and sat next to her. The Great Hall was practically full by now, and the level of noise was considerably higher.

"Morning Hermione," Beth said cheerfully. "How are you? Nervous?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Lily said. "McGonagall came to hour room today and she left there a trunk with all your things. I brought you the schedule and the books you need for the first subjects, plus a couple of quills and some parchment. I hope you don't mind I took it without your permission."

"No, it's ok. Thanks a lot!" said Hermione, taking the bag Lily was handing her. She took a look at her schedule. She had a double-potions period, with the Slytherins. Sirius looked over at the piece of paper she was holding.

"We have almost the same schedule. Only I don't take Ancient Runes and you don't take Care of Magical Creatures," he said, considerably happier than when he first arrived.

"Yes, the girls told me."

"You asked about my schedule?" he said half surprised, half pleased with himself.

"Sorry to disappoint you Black," said Lily, always ready to burst his bubble. "She didn't ask about you. We were discussing classes and who was in them she might know. That's all."

Hermione was really amused by the situation. Lily worked so hard to be mean to the Marauders and she has no idea she was going to end up married to one of them and being best friends with the rest. Sirius in the mean time had chosen to avoid Lily's remark and continue to look pleased.

"Anyway, we should be going. I don't want to be late or we'll miss the best cauldrons," said Olivia, bored with the situation.

"You are right, coming guys?" asked Beth to the rest of them, and much to Lily's displeasure they all stood up and walked together towards the dungeon. Hermione knew it was going to be weird attending potions and having Snape as a classmate instead of a teacher. Something of her concern must have shown in her face because Remus asked.

"You ok, 'Mione?" at the sound of the nickname, Sirius looked up.

Hermione re arranged her features and smiled, "yes, just nervous." Sirius put one arm around Hermione's shoulder and said, "You've got nothing to worry about, you have next to you the best potion maker Hogwarts has ever seen."

A cold laughter sounded behind them. The six of them turn round to find a tall, blond boy Hermione immediately recognized as Lucius Malfoy and a shorter, greasy haired one standing right behind them.

"I suppose you are not talking about yourself Black, you are so obtuse can't even make a simple sleeping solution. The only thing you can do is beat bludgers, and I think you might have missed a couple of times and hit your own head, because you have become more stupid with the years," said Snape walking pass them, still laughing.

Sirius was about to say something, but Hermione bit him to eat "Oh, why don't you _fly_ _off_ Snape." Everybody in the hall, except Malfoy burst out laughing. Snape turned a pallid shade of pink and looked at Hermione furious.

"I didn't know you needed a defense attorney to speak for you Black. And who are you?" Lucius Malfoy asked Hermione in a scornful tone. But before Hermione could answer, the door to the potions classroom opened and professor Slughorn made them go inside it. Hermione was surprised to see him. She had temporarily forgotten he used to teach potions. He looked just as Harry had described him from Dumbledore's pensive

"Ok, settle down guys. I need you to pay attention. Today we are going to prepare a very difficult potion, so we'll be working in pairs that I have already arranged." There was a general groan around the classroom.

Hermione, much to her displeasure, was paired with Snape. In fact, it was difficult to tell who was angrier of the two. They were supposed to be making some Polyjuice potion.

"You are not supposed to slice the horn of bicorn, you are supposed to crush it!" Hermione told Snape exasperatedly

"What do you know? The book says slice them!"

"Yeah, but if you added them sliced you'll have to wait for them to dissolve before moving to the next step. If you crush them instead, they dissolve faster and you avoid contaminating it with the particles of metals from the knife," she explained in her worst know-it-all tone, just to annoy him.

"You should listen to this young lady, Severus. She's absolutely right," boomed Slughorn behind them, making them jump. "You must be Mrs. Granger, the new student" Hermione nodded. "Very well Mrs. Granger, take 10 points for Gryffindor for you very useful tip." And he moved to see what the couple next to them was doing, leaving Snape fuming.

Not long after that the class ended and the Hermione had a free period before going to Arithmancy, so she headed back to the common room with James, Remus, Sirius and Lily, Beth and Olivia had muggle studies.

"That was brilliant!" Said James when Hermione caught up with them.

"I had never seen Snape so humiliated in a class, and Potions is supposed to be his best subject. 'Mione, you are fantastic!" said Remus grinning broadly at her,

"Yeah, you are the best _Mione_," said Sirius hugging her from behind. Hermione's heart began to beat faster. The only person who had ever hugged her like that was Ron, and it was usually just because she had agreed to help him with a piece of homework. Still, his hugs always made her nervous and exited, but she had never felt the tingling sensations she had all over her.

"I don't like him," said Hermione, ignoring her feelings

"Join the club," said James. "Actually no, it's not that we don't like him, we hate him." Hermione smiled. James felt for Snape what Harry felt for Draco Malfoy.

"What?" James asked her.

"Nothing, it's just, you remind me terribly of a friend of mine, you know…" she left the sentence unfinished, and only he and Sirius fully understood what she was talking about.

"Anyway, I think this calls for a celebration. How about a round of butter beer?" Sirius offered cheerfully. They all agreed, why not? They didn't have anything to do for over an hour. James was delighted that Lily was coming too. Of course, she had only acceded because of Hermione, so that she wouldn't have to be the only girl, but still, it was an opportunity to show her that he wasn't as bad as she thought.

Once they were in the common room, which was practically empty as most of the students were in class, they sat at one of the largest tables and waited for Sirius to bring the drinks while they discussed, or rather abused Snape and Malfoy. They told Hermione everything about those to, as if she didn't have enough reasons to hate them already. Even Lily participated in the conversation enthusiastically. A couple of years ago, she had been against the Marauders being cruel to Snape, but y now she had a pretty good idea of his true colors, so she didn't mind any more.

Sirius returned carrying a box full of bottles. Hermione suspected he had made it so fast to Hogsmeade disguised as Snuffles. Although she wasn't sure if he had already adopted that name for his dog self. On the other hand, Lily knew nothing about them being animagi or about the secret passages to Hogsmeade.

"Do you have a secret stash of butter beer hidden somewhere in the castle?" she asked Sirius as she took the bottle he was handing her.

"Something like that," he answered, winking at Hermione. "So, I propose a toast. To the new member of the _I swear I'm going to make everything in my power to make Snape's life unbearable_ club. Lily, you are welcome to join too," he added. James looked hopefully at her. Even if it was just a joke, he liked the idea of being in some way connected with her.

"Can't I be something like an associate instead of a member?"

"Sure, you can be whatever you like! As long as you take the vow. Come on you two, repeat after me: I solemnly swear that my one and only purpose in life is reducing Severous Snape to tears in every and all opportunities that shall appear before me, for it is the most honorable thing I can do."

The girls looked at each other and then burst out laughing. Sirius looked at them pretended to be offended.

"If you are not going to take the club seriously, this is not going to work!" he said.

"Come on Padfoot," said Remus consolingly, "you have to admit that was the worst oath you have come up with!" Sirius shrugged hi shoulder while the rest of them laughed.

They had a wonderful time planning what evil things they would like to do to Snape, knowing perfectly well they weren't going to carry them out. But it was something entertaining to talk about, and by the time they had to go back to classes, none of them really felt like going, including Lily. Something had changed in the atmosphere, although they didn't know it yet. This was going to be the beginning of something very special.


	5. Begginings

**A/N:** I started writing this story 5 years ago, and I haven't written much since. But I'm back now. Hope there's someone out there still reading. This chapter took a very long time to complete. If you think it's still worth it, review and I'll go on with the story. Thanks a bunch!

**Disclaimer**: Own nothing, just my computer and my will to write

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter V: Beginnings**

They say time flies when you're having fun. Well, time was certainly behaving strangely for Hermione. Not only had she travelled 30 years into the past, months were now slipping away like sand from her fingers. Three months had passed since she had woken up in the hospital wing, and she could hardly believe it. Between classes, homework and getting to know her new friends, she had lost track of dates and before she knew it, Christmas was just a couple of weeks away.

Life had come to be pretty similar to what she knew in her own time. She attended classes, studied hard, did her homework, aced every class. In relation to study, it was business as usual. As to the people around her, well, she had grown very fond of Lily and Beth; she came to consider them real friends. Olivia, on the other hand, she didn't care for. There was something dark about her. She didn't fully trust her, and it was clear Hermione wasn't her favorite person either, so they were just polite and civil to each other, but mainly tried to avoid one another when they could. As for the boys, Hermione greatly enjoyed spending time with them as well. She didn't share Lily's opinion of them, but of course, her judgment was biased, as she already knew and liked two of them, and was best friends with the other's son. In any case, whenever she was alone with them, it felt almost as if she was back where she belonged.

However, she also missed her friends. She still hadn't figured out what she was supposed to be doing or which was the reason why she had been sent to the past. From her research and her conversations with Professor Dumbledore she had gathered that there was no way of getting home until the castle was satisfied she had accomplished her mission. And the fastest way of doing that was discovering what that was. She should be putting all her efforts into finding out the reason why Hogwarts had decided to remove her from her age and send her to the past.

Be as it may, there was something else that was starting to occupy too many of her thoughts for her liking, something that had her worried enough to send her mission to the back of her head. Or rather, someone else. Sirius. They were spending a lot of time together. At the beginning, it was as if he felt responsible for her, like he had to look after her and make sure she fitted in, she was happy. But now, they just wanted to be together. They talked a lot, laughed a lot. They managed to find excuses to be together, preferably alone. They sought each other out for the silliest reasons. She knew what that meant, she wasn't going to lie to herself.

It had taken her only a couple of weeks for her to see Sirius in a different light. She had never known him so careless and free. She suspected he had never truly been himself around her until now. The Sirius she knew was a responsible adult who had to look out for the life of his godson. But even then she had found him fascinating. How was she to resist the charms of this young, unpreoccupied, yet just as enchanting, version of him? She had tried very hard to stop herself from falling for him, but the damage was done from that afternoon in Hogsmeade, and there was nothing she could do about it now.

Still, it weren't her feelings for him what worried her the most. She knew that nothing could happen between them; she had seen the future, knew what lay ahead of him and she couldn't change it, no matter how much she wanted to. She was, after all, Hermione Granger, rational and sensible, even when it came to feelings. No, her worries were elsewhere, with him. She was aware that she wasn't the only one who was experiencing inappropriate emotions. Yet, he didn't understand the dangers involved, how could he? He had no idea that their paths were to cross in a couple of decades for a period as short as critical of their lives.

Hermione knew she was supposed to discourage those feelings. However, it was proving almost as hard as not thinking about the future. He was handsome, funny, smart and above all, sweet. He had managed to get under her skin in a way only one other person had: Ron. And he had enough experience as to know how to use that situation to his advantage. He had had enough girls to recognize the signs, and though Hermione was clever enough to see through his most obvious moves, this time he was playing a card he had never used before, one that was powerful enough to knock down any wall of excuses: honesty.

He really was falling for her and he was determined to get her. This was what had Hermione so preoccupied. If these feelings had been one-sided, she was sure she would have been able to handle them without anyone even noticing, But with Sirius being so blatant about his intentions towards her… well, she wasn't sure how long her resolution would hold.

This evening she was trying to read an Ancient Runs book in the Common Room, but every other minute her gaze traveled up to where he was, concentrated on a Quidditch magazine. A flock of hair was falling over his face, making him look –if possible- even hotter. He had the shadow of a beard which gave him a sort of rough look. Suddenly, he looked up from his magazine and caught her staring. He grinned.

"What's up, Pickles?"

"Pickles?" She questioned him, glad he hadn't asked why she had been looking at him, even though it sounded by his tone he already knew.

"That's my nickname for you. It was high time I found you one that suited you, since I have one for everybody else," he answered simply.

"Yeah, but why Pickles?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.

"You've just answered your own question. It's because of that thing you do with your nose. I do the same every time I have pickles. Besides, it goes cute on you…" He made a pause, as if considering what he had just said, "then again, everything does," he finished with a confident wink.

The Common Room was pretty empty. Most of the students were outside, enjoying what was probably the last sun of the year. Hermione was suddenly very aware of the quietness that surrounded them. She didn't know what to say. Or rather, she knew perfectly well what she wanted to say, and all the reasons why she wasn't supposed to. However, as he so often did, he seemed to know exactly what was going on inside her head. He stood up from his couch and walked towards her, sitting down right next to her. This sent her heart racing and made her breathing lose its usual pace.

"This chair is not big enough for both of us," she managed to say, trying hard to avoid his eyes, which was a difficult task, since his face was inches from his.

"I know that," he replied in a soft voice. How could he be so calmed when her heart felt as if it was trying to climb up her throat? "But I tend to ignore rules when they are, hm, inconvenient."

He was so close, she could feel his breath on her lips. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, but his cologne filler her lungs and her head, numbing her senses. She knew the only reason why he hadn't kissed her yet was because he cared enough for her to let her make the decision. Yet, this didn't mean he was going to make it easy for her to make the right one rather than the one they both wanted her to take.

"Sirius, I…" She began, but she couldn't continue. She couldn't tell him what was on her mind because it was wrong. And at the same time, she couldn't deny what she was feeling, because she didn't want to.

There he was, looking at the straight in the eye, reading her feelings like an open book.

"What are you so afraid of?" he asked softly. He took one of her hands between his before continuing. "You know how I feel, it's not like with the others. I feel different about you, I'm serious about you."

"You have no idea how difficult you're making this for me," she managed to say, breathlessly.

"I could make it so easy," he said, every syllable filled with longing. "I've never been like this before; you bring this out in me. And I can see right there, in your eyes, that you feel the same. I wish you would tell me why…" He didn't finish the sentence.

"Sirius, you know where I come from; you know sooner or later I'll have to go back." It wasn't enough for him, and she knew it. Hell, it was scarcely enough for her.

"Then why not make the most of the time we have together? And when you go back, you can look me up. I promise I'll wait for you. Hermione, I know I'll never feel for any other woman how I feel about you."

He was so honest, so certain of what he was saying that for a moment Hermione believed he was going to beat death and they would live happily ever after. But the warm bubble that his words had pumped up inside her burst a second later. Their destiny was written and nothing could nor would change that.

"It doesn't work like that," she tried to explain, but he interrupted her.

"At least tell me that you'll think about it."

"I think about it all the time," she answered honestly. She shouldn't have said that, she was making herself too vulnerable, but the words had left her mouth before she could stop them. She saw his eyes light up with hope as he held her hand tighter.

In the intensity of the moment, neither of them had heard the other marauders enter the Common Room. James cleared his throat making both Sirius and Hermione looked towards the entrance.

"We are terribly sorry to interrupt this tooth-caviting moment, but we need Padfoot,"said Remus, not even bothering to hide the teasing grin that was playing on his lips.

"Yeah, it's time we left to do the _thing,_" James said pointedly. "We'll leave you two to say your goodbyes," he added winking, "try to make it quick Padfoot, we know you can." Laughing, the three boys left the room before either of the other two could said anything.

"Well, Pickles, I need to go now. But this conversation isn't over." He kissed her in the forehead and followed his friends through the portrait, leaving her to unriddle her own thoughts and wishing she could go after him.

There was an air of excitement on the Great Hall the following morning during breakfast. There was to be a visit to Hogsmead so that the students could go Christmas shopping. Olivia had a date with a guy from Ravenclaw, so Beth, Lily and Hermione were going by themselves. Beth was delighted at the prospect of an afternoon full of shopping bags, she talked with eagerness about all the stores they could visit and which they should go to first. Lily and Hermione were exchanging amused glances over toast when the marauders took the empty sits next to them.

"Morning Lils," greeted James, attempting bravely to put his arm around her shoulders, but freezing in mid gesture when he saw the look she was throwing him.

"I've told you a thousand times not to call me Lils… And don't touch me," she scowled.

This made Hermione smile sadly. It had just occurred to her that if any girl had looked at Harry like that he would have blushed scarlet and refused to talk to her for months. James, who the living image of his son-to-be, merely smiled even more broadly and changed tactics. "Sorry, I forgot. I just can't help myself when I'm near you. When will you give me a chance?" he asked making puppy eyes at her.

"What's wrong, Mione?" Sirius inquired. As he had no interest in watching Lily turn James down yet again, he had been concentrating in Hermione, and couldn't help but notice her grim.

"Nothing," she said as brightly as she could manage, avoiding his gaze. "So, what are you up to today?"

"We thought we'd tried to get in the Shrieking Shack," James answered, inflating his chest to make himself look taller. Lily coffed something that sounded very much like "childish". Everyone laughed as James' chest deflated.

"What are you girls doing?" Remus asked, looking at Beth.

"Oh, just Christmas shopping," she answered, matter-of-factly, though her cheeks had turned the faintest shade of pink.

Hermione sighed. It was so clear those two liked each other. Of course, she knew why Remus wasn't doing anything about it. He thought he wasn't worthy of her. Or anyone, for that matter. And he was scared of her finding out what he really was and hating him for that. And as for her, she was just really shy when she liked someone that much. It was a pity, really. They could be together, they were a perfect match. It wasn't as with her and… "Stop it," she told herself. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about it. She made up her mind. She was going to try to get Remus and Beth together. It was going to be tricky convincing Remus without confessing she knew his secret. She looked at them, stealing glances when they thought no one was looking. Maybe all they needed was a little nudge in the right direction.

"Where's Peter?" Hermione asked as a plan formed in her head.

"Detention with McGonagall. He didn't finish his essay in time, so he has to spend the afternoon in the library working on it," explained James.

Hermione smiled, this was perfect. "Why don't we get together for drinks later today?" She looked sideways at Lily to shut her up. She knew she was going to protest, but she'd have to explain later, when Beth wasn't around. Otherwise, they would never agree.

"You mean, like a date?" Sirius asked enthusiastically.

"Nope, just drinks, the six of us. Say, around four at the Three Broomsticks?" They boys nodded their agreement, so did Beth. Lily looked at her a little crossed, but said nothing. "Great then, girls, we should be going. See you later, guys." And with that, the three girls left the table, leaving behind three boys who just couldn't believe their luck.

"Why on earth did you do that?" Lily rounded on Hermione the moment they were out of earshot.

"It was the only way I could think of to get those two together," she pointed at Beth, who had not noticed her friends had come to holt and was walking ahead, and Lily understood.

"The things one does for friends…" Lily sighed and rushed on to catch up with Beth.

They had a most enjoyable morning, in spite of the cold weather. Hermione had thought she would feel weird visiting Hogsmead without Harry and Ron, but the truth was that she had barely thought about them. In fact, she was having such a good time, she was surprised when Beth pointed out it was nearly time to meet the boys, where had the day gone?

James, Remus and Sirius were already there, sitting at a table at the very back of the pub, six butterbeers in front of them. It took some time for the girls to negotiate their way to where they were, since all of them where carrying at least six or seven shopping bags.

"What did you get me for Christmas?" James asked Lily genially, as she sat down in front of him.

"A hard kick in the chin, but I can give it to you right now, if you don't want to wait till the 25th," she answered in a falsely sweet voice. Everyone laughed. And James, instead of blushing or looking putout as Harry would most certainly do, replied "You don't need to invent excuses to make physical contact, Lils, I'm yours for you to touch whenever and wherever you want." She scowled, but Hermione noticed that the gesture seemed somewhat forced. She wondered whether there was a part of Lily that was starting to consider the possibility that James wasn't just a big-headed prat. No sooner had this thought formed in her head, she felt something funny inside her, something very similar to what she had experienced right before passing out and waking up in the Hospital Wing thirty years in the past. And an idea occurred to her: had she been sent here to help Lily and James get together?

She was brought back from her musings by Sirius tracing the palm of her hand with his index finger, which resulted in goosebumps running down her back. "Hi," he said smiling seductively when she looked up at him. This made her blush, but not from embarrassment, and look around. Beth and Remus were sitting side by side, making small talk and smiling shyly at one another. Hermione caught Lily's eye and beamed, the readhead returned her smile.

She could still feel Sirius's eyes on her, so she took a sip of butterbeer and looked around the pub. Only then she realized that the Marauders had chosen a pretty secluded corner for the meeting, and that a Christmas tree –not unlike the one she had placed in front of her's, Harry's and Ron's table at that very bar a couple of years ago- had suddenly appeared, blocking the view of the rest of the room.

"We wanted to get some privacy," said Sirius, who was looking at where Hermione's head pointed.

"And why exactly did you need privacy for?" She asked, feigning ignorance.

"Oh, I don't know… planning a trip to the Forbidden Forest tonight, discussing ways of upsetting Snivelus… kissing…" he answered, playing with a lock of her hair around his finger, and getting closer. It was imperative he stopped doing that to her, she wasn't sure how much longer she would resist.

"I don't think Lily would agree to any of them," she answered, averting her eyes from his handsome features. Her heart was beating fast, and it was getting difficult to follow a train of thought. She had half hoped Lily would look up at the sound of her name, but nothing happened. In fact, through the corner of her eye she saw that neither Lily nor James where there.

"They went to get drinks," explained Sirius, who was still gazing at her intently. In front of them, Beth was giggling at a story Remus was telling her, their heads a lot closer than was necessary and completely oblivious to anything that happened around them. Hermione had a sudden inspiration. She took Sirius by the hand and made him stand up. He looked astonished but delighted.

"I think we should leave them alone," Hermione whispered, gesturing to the couple sitting opposite them. Sirius' chest fell a little, but he nodded. He waved his wand and Hermione's packages disappeared, he had sent them straight to her bedroom.

They saw Lily and James at the bar, chatting amicably. "Maybe we shouldn't interrupt them either," suggested Hermione, and Sirius nodded again, looking happier this time, because that meant they were going to be alone together as well.

He took her hand the moment they were outside the door, and steered her up the road that lead to the shrieking shack. She hadn't had time to put on her gloves, still his touch was enough to keep her warm. She should suggest they went back to the castle, to the crowded Common Room, where the most they could do was exchange glances and smile at each other. Letting him guide her to an isolated building was reckless, even dangerous. She was playing with fire. They were playing with fire. However, it appeared her resolution had been magically sent to her bedroom together with the rest of her stuff. The tinkling sensation spreading from the hand he was holding fogged her brain.

They had reached the fence of the Shack, predictably, there was nowhere around. He conjured a blanket out of thin air and enchanted it so it wouldn't get wet or cold in the snow. Placed it below a large tree facing the house and motioned for her to sit down. Knowing full well that this was the last thing she should do, she obliged. He sat next to her, their shoulders touching.

"Have you thought about what we talked about yesterday?"

"Sirius, I…" She said once more, but she really had no idea how to go on. How could she explain everything she had on her mind at that very moment?

"Hermione," he said very seriously, "I know you know things I don't about the future; and I know there's a good reason for you to battle so hard against this. But, the truth is, these feelings exist between us, weather we act on them or not. Even if nothing ever happens between us, I will still have them, and I'm pretty sure the same goes for you. So, what's the point in fighting when we could be so happy?"

He was looking straight into her eyes, looking for the answer her mouth wouldn't give. The battle was lost, he could read how she felt right there in her eyes. Hermione's heart was beating so fast she thought it might leap from her chest. He had placed one of his hands on her chin, and was tracing her lips with his thumb. She blinked and swallowed. Without a single word, he asked the question. She nodded, unable to fight it any longer. He moved his hand to her cheek, and slowly grew closer, until his lips found hers.


End file.
